After watching my hard earned shad die in my boats baitwell in an hour this weekend I have decided that I need to do better. My baitwell is oval about 18 gallons and got completely clogged up with scales. My dilemma is to buy a tank or build my own. When I say build i am not taking about cutting up a barrel and adding a pump/filter. I would design and fabricate it from sheet PVC or HDPE and cut the parts on my CNC. Double wall with insulation. I'll probably spend 400 or more on the project so I won't save that much on doing it myself. I do like a project and it would be nice to have the tank fit my boat exactly. I have looked at many of the designs out there and it seems pretty straightforward. I also know that a lot of experience and trial and error goes into the design of these tanks that I don`t have. Other than round, insulation, filtration and oxygenation is there some secret to bait tanks? I would love to hear from anyone who has done DIY and commercial tank comparisons. Is DIY worth it?

I don't fish enough to justify paying $500 to $600 for a tank. I can move it where ever I need in the boat or truck. I have around $150 in this. I use bottles of frozen water to cool the tank down.

I did change a few things. I put both the light and pump on a switch. I did not cut holes in the pump housing I drilled 1/4 to keep bait out. I moved the door back and put a piece of cutting board in front to cut bait up and I put a drain with a hose adapter in the bottom to empty the tank. I also have a 400 GPH pump to pump water in. I also fabricated fish aquarium charcoal into a filter along with a few other things.

I don't fish enough to justify paying $500 to $600 for a tank. I can move it where ever I need in the boat or truck. I have around $150 in this. I use bottles of frozen water to cool the tank down.

I did change a few things. I put both the light and pump on a switch. I did not cut holes in the pump housing I drilled 1/4 to keep bait out. I moved the door back and put a piece of cutting board in front to cut bait up and I put a drain with a hose adapter in the bottom to empty the tank. I also have a 400 GPH pump to pump water in. I also fabricated fish aquarium charcoal into a filter along with a few other things.

Clay, I caught your video and the one with your newer tank.. I was seriously considering going with the moeller tank and adding insulation. There is an outfit that is already using those for a base (striper soup I think). How was your luck with the DIY setup vs your new tank?

This was not my idea, nor is it my video. Don't want the guy thinking I am taking credit for his hard work. (but I did us it) I found it on youtube along with other video . My tank hold about 40 gallons of water. I just got it put together yesterday. I have made tanks in the past but with no filter. We will see how it works. I have a 20 gallon made into the boa without a filter. It work good for minnows but shad only hold about 10 or so.

Clay, I caught your video and the one with your newer tank.. I was seriously considering going with the moeller tank and adding insulation. There is an outfit that is already using those for a base (striper soup I think). How was your luck with the DIY setup vs your new tank?

Overall its like comparing a Yeti cooler to a cheap Igloo cooler. It is obviously better in every way. Worth the extra money? I think so, some would disagree. Can you get by with the smaller, cheaper version? To some degree yes and perhaps the best way to start out as it is maybe less than $200 versus about $600-700 by the time the blue water bait tank is at your door.

Yes sir striper soup is what I watched on youtube and was introduced to the Moeller through one of their videos. I didn't like how they had probably a 4 inch big pvc pipe taking up half the small 23 gallon tank so I made my own version as you saw in my video. They are good tanks and my filter I made was sufficient for numbers of shad which the tank could hold. I got by with my tank for a year or two before I decided to upgrade to a blue water bait tank.

How they compare? Well, frankly, the blue water bait tank makes keeping the temperature down about as easy as it can get I imagine. Once I add a few frozen milk jugs in the water I'll get the water to mid to upper 70's and that's good enough for keeping over a hundred shad alive over night versus in the summer the Moeller likely would be very very difficult to control temperature but with insulation of some sort it may help.. The filtration system is much better in the blue water as well so I am not afraid to catch shad and throw them directly into the tank immediately in the summer rather than put them in a 5 gallon bucket for a few minutes to slim and scale up that water first which is a must if you had the Moeller due to the filtration system I built. Fewer filter changes required and sometimes not necessary during a single trip with the blue water. Depends on your budget. You can always start off with the Moeller and upgrade if and when you feel fit. I just like the peace of mind knowing I can catch bait and leave them in my blue water bait tank over night with no problems.

I think it depends on what you are going to do. I have a Moeller 30 gal tank, and a keep alive filter/ aeration system. In the heat of summer, I put in 20 gal of water, 10 lb of ice and a cup of pool salt. I can keep 80 shad alive for four hours and can add a frozen 2 liter to keep em frisky. I do put them in a bucket for a bit then transfer them to the tank. There is no way I could catch them and keep them overnight and I can only keep about half that number of small gizzards alive...

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I really appreciate the notes on how well the different tanks work. I really think I need something insulated so at this point I think I am going to try and build. After looking at the materials and new plastic welder I would need, I am not sure it is going to be much cheaper than buying a new tank. But I need a project to keep me off the streets, and it would be nice if it fit my boat just right.

I plan to cnc the base and lid from 1/2 in hdpe marine board and grove them to accept a double layer of 1/4 hdpe (maybe 3/16 or 1/8 if I can find it) material for the tank walls with about an inch of airgap between them. I'll plastic weld them together. The gap can be filled with 2 part urethane foam. I like the designs with a separate compartment for the pump and filter. I will probably go with multiple filtering socks if I can find them. Any suggestions would be appreciated at this stage, especially concerning the wall thickness and filtration.

I would think you could build it and drill a few strategic holes to fill it with the Great stuff insulating foam.

We built a round drink tub out of plastic utility tubs by stacking two of them with spacers, and filling with great stuff foam. Made a lid out of large white cutting boards we bought at Sams Club. It serves its purpose, its no yeti, but it works.

I am looking at plastic suppliers and so far have found that 1/4 in is the thinnest marine hdpe board that I can locate. Are tank walls made by shad shack and blue water really this thick? It seems like it would be too heavy and expensive especially with foam in between.

I am looking at plastic suppliers and so far have found that 1/4 in is the thinnest marine hdpe board that I can locate. Are tank walls made by shad shack and blue water really this thick? It seems like it would be too heavy and expensive especially with foam in between.

The tanks that I have had dealings with are about 1/16 inch or so, 1/4 would make it heavy I would think. But if you are not going to move it and weight is not a problem for your boat, then it would work.

I bought a moeller 40 gallon oval tank for $175. After buying a bilge pump and making a simple filter system I only had $225 invested in the entire set up. I fill the tank with tap water from home and treat it with a de-chlorinator I buy at Walmart for treating aquarium water. I also ad 4 cups of salt to the tank. After a recent fishing trip this summer I forgot to empty the bait tank when I got home. 4 days later I walked by the boat and heard the pump running in my bait tank. All of the shad were still alive and happy. You can't beat that for $225.